Submission Guidelines

The Journal of Planning Education and Research (JPER) is the official journal of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP) and consistently ranks among leading peer-reviewed planning journals. It is the journal of record for North American planning scholarship. Aimed at scholars and educators in urban and regional planning, political sci­ence, policy analysis, urban geography, economics, and soci­ology, JPER presents the most vital contemporary trends and issues in planning theory, practice, and pedagogy. Submissions are selected for publication based upon a double-blind reviewing process. JPER is pub­lished by Sage Publications on behalf of ACSP.

Electronic Submittal: JPER now has the capability to con­duct manuscript review electronically. We aim to expedite the review process by making it easier for reviewers to receive manuscripts and return their evaluations and to reduce the quantity of paper we use and store.

To submit an article, please visit http://services.bepress.com/jper. Papers should be double-spaced and generally should not exceed thirty typed pages, including illustrations, tables, and references. Manuscripts should reveal no evidence of the authors’ identities and institutional affiliations. An abstract of approximately 100 words and a brief biographical sketch must accompany the manuscript.

Submission of a manuscript implies the author’s commit­ment to publish in this journal. Authors submitting a manu­script to the Journal of Planning Education and Research should not submit it to another journal; nor should manuscripts repeat information published elsewhere in substantially similar form or with substantially similar content. The author’s transmittal letter accompanying the manuscript should affirm that these conditions are met. Authors in doubt about what constitutes prior publication should consult the editors.

Research-Based Articles: Research articles should make clear the research question, why it is important and pertinent to planning, how the research procedures address the ques­tion, what results were obtained, and how these results should be interpreted. Both quantitative researchers and those whose scholarship is qualitative or theoretical should consider their work for submission. Unconventional work is encouraged but must explicitly demonstrate its contribution to the field. Manuscripts of general interest to the planning education and research community are particularly sought. Contributions to and applications of other literatures drawn upon by planners (such as urban geography, welfare eco­nomics, interest-group politics, policy analysis, and others of the full range of fields used in the planning classroom) are welcome as well. Such manuscripts should clearly demon­strate their relevance to planning. JPER defines planning as concerned with public actions that are efficient, effective, and equitable. JPER addresses planning practice at all levels of government and at nongovernmental organizations and in all substantive areas.

Instruction Articles: Manuscripts concerned with peda­gogical topics may be considered for the Instruction section, which is devoted to the advancement of planning education. Instruction manuscripts may include descriptive accounts of innovative approaches to teaching; locally derived analyses of student recruitment, advising, or alumni career successes; or illustrations of classroom exercises and techniques.

Accounts of a specific course or teaching innovation should be grounded in pedagogical theory and offer strong evi­dence to support its conclusions.

Reports: As a publication of ACSP, reports of general importance to ACSP and its membership are welcome and serve as a record of the actions and ideas that propel the orga­nization of planning education. Eligible materials include, but are not limited to, reports of ACSP study commissions and texts of general addresses given at ACSP conferences. Entries in the Reports section will ordinarily be invited and subject to a limited referee process. Inquiries regarding pos­sible report submissions are encouraged.

Comments: Essays addressing current issues and develop­ments in planning education or scholarship are welcome for the Comments section. Speculative arguments may be accepted for publication if they are seen as convincing and important or provocative. Comments manuscripts should not exceed ten typewritten pages.

Letters: Letters responding to articles, comments, reviews, or editorials are welcome. Authors will be offered the opportunity to reply. Contributors should address the substance of issues in a way that avoids attacks on individuals.

Style, Spelling, and Usage: Manuscripts should conform to requirements set forth in the Chicago Manual of Style, fifteenth edition (University of Chicago Press 2003). JPER’s spelling authority is Webster’s Third New International Dictio­nary (Merriam-Webster Co. 2000).

Citations and Notes: References should be cited in the text using the author’s last name, year of publication, and page numbers where appropriate. For example, (Turner and Murray 2001), (Wheeler 2000, 130), (Florida Department of Environmental Regulation 1987, 129-43). Page numbers are necessary whenever a specific argument or finding, rather than the general focus of a work, is cited. For details, see the Chicago Manual. Statutes, government regulations, and court decisions should be cited in the text without a corresponding reference list entry using the style presented in A Uniform Sys­tem of Citation, fourteenth edition (Harvard Law Review Asso­ciation 1986). Notes should be typed double-spaced at the end of the manuscript. Length and number should be kept to a minimum, and they should not be used for the purpose of citation or acknowledgments.

Illustrations: Professional quality copies of tables and fig­ures should be submitted with manuscripts for review. These should be clearly coordinated with text material and with specific references made to the tables or figures. All tables and figures should be separated from the manuscript docu­ment, with their preferred placement indicated in uppercase within the text. All must be captioned and numbered sequentially.

Copyright Concerns: Authors whose articles are accepted for publication are expected to sign a prepublication agree­ment that assigns the article’s copyright to the Journal of Planning Education and Research. Permission to reprint any previously published material must be obtained by the author from Sage Publications.

Inquiries regarding articles should be sent to jpereditors@berkeley.edu. Our editorial office is located at the Department of City and Regional Planning; 228 Wurster Hall; University of California; Berkeley, CA 94720-1850.

If you are interested in reviewing books or other materials, please send a brief resume to Seymour J. Mandelbaum, the Reviews Editor, indicating your area of expertise and a short publication record. Professor Mandelbaum also welcomes suggestions for materials that merit review in JPER. Please, however do not volunteer to review a particular book or to nominate a particular reviewer.  You can reach Professor Mandelbaum at the Department of City and Regional Planning, 127 Meyerson Hall, 210 S. 34th Street, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6311, at mandel@pobox.upenn.edu, or by fax at 215-898-5731.